Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-05
THE BOOK OF MORMON.
A New Story as to Its Origin-WhereS pauld
ing Got His Material From.

ing Got His Material From.
CLEVELAND, OHIO, April 23.-The re-
cent conference of the Josephites, or
homogeneous Mormons, at Kirkland,
Ohio, and the extended reports Of their
proceedings in the GIobe-Democrat has
renewed public interest in the peculiar
faith to which members of this church
subscribe. The origin of the Book of
Mormon has never been clearly estab-
lished. The Latter-Day Saints, of course,
accept the statements OF Joe Smith and
believe it TO be an inspired work. The
general public, however, are hardly as
credulous, and regard the alleged bible
as 8 fraud-the work of some clever
romanCist rather than as the translation of
hier0glyphics on golden plates by nine
teenth century prophet. The Spaulding
theory, with which every one at all &C
quainted with the subject is familiar, has
the most advocates. They hold that
Spaulding's manuscript of his romance,
"the manuscript found" fell into the
hands of Joe Smith, Sidney Rigdon and
others, and from that fanciful work was
constructed the Book of Mormon. If
this theory be true, it will astonlsh Ortho-
dox church people to learn that a con-
gregational divine, one. of the foremost
of his time in New England, is response
bic for the Introduction of the "twin
relic of barbarism''-as the Utah Church
has been called-in this country.
ETHAN SMITHS BOOK.
Rev. Ethan Smith, who died at an
advanced age early in the "forties," was
one of the lights in the Congregational
Church in New England. a man of deep
learning, ne was at once 8 preacher,
author and philosopher, holding to many
ideas far in advance of his time. Ole of
his pet hobbies was the belief that the
North American Indians were descended
from the lost tribes of Israel, who came
over to this continent several hundred
years before Christ, built great cities
and reached q very high state of ciVlliza-
ton.
Rev. DR.. Smith wrote work on the
subject, which, after completion, he de-
cided not to publish, fearing that it
might injure his reputation as theOlogi-
cal writer. This book was an elaboration
of the theory DR.. Smith had so long main
tanned. Taking as it's foundation the
migration of the lost tribes of Israel to
the Western Continent, it described the
heglra from Palestine, the establishment
of the Jews In what IS now Central
America and Mexico, tie founding of q
great empire and it's gradual decline and
fall. 1t told of magnificent cities inhab-
tied by an enlightened and Christian peo-
pie. The author claimed for them civil
izatiou equol to that of Egypt or Jeru-
salem. Numbered of years passed and the
history of the eastern Jews was repeated
on the western continent. Quarrels be-
tween the various tribes sprang up,
bloody wars were waged and the process
of disintegration began. Gradually the
people were scattered, their cities de-
stroyed, and all semblance to nation was
lost. Thousands perished by pestilence
and the sword, and the remnants of 8
once mighty nation relspsed into q state
of barbarism. From them their descend
ants, Dr. Smith claimed, were the Indians
OF North America and the Aztec Of Mexico
This is almost exactly similar to the story
told in the Book of Mormon.
sPAULDING's BOOK.
Solomon Spaulding was warm adj
mirer of DR.. Smith, and when 8 young
man studied under his tuition. He be-
came interested in his theories regarding
the settlement of America and in return
DR.. Smith took the young student into his
confidence and granted him q perusal OF
his unpublished BOOK. Spaulding was
deeply impressed with the truth of the
theory and pursued his Investigations even
farther than DR. Smith had ventured
Taking the latter's views, as expressed
in his book. Spaulding same years later
wrote his famous "Manuscript Found
which afterWard fell into the hands Of Joe
Smith and was reconstructed into the
Book of Mormon. Indeed it was not at
all unlikely that DR. Smiths original
manuscript, which, it is said, Spsulding had
in his possession, suffered similar fate.
At any rate it has never been seen since.
These facts are told your correspondent
by grandson of DR.. Smith, now residing
in this city. He states that the sock OF
Mormon differs very slightly as far as its
general outline is concerned, from the his
torical romance written by his grand
father sixty OF, seventy years age, and he
is quite certain that the Mormon faith is
founded on the production of that worthy
PASTORS fertile Imagination.